Product Design Days Chennai

This Article Explores The First Edition of The Product Design Days Which Was Held On Chennai India Between 22nd and 23rd of November 2012

In Europe, we are used to designer shows where artists and designers join events to showcase their products and skills. One drawback, and the reality of such events is that while they indeed attract a lot of audience, apart from the press, most of such audience are people who come to copy products from exhibiting designers and manufacturers; i.e. freeriders of design.However, Product Design Days was a very very different event; it was not a place to show-off to audience or press with your artistic creations; rather it was designed as an event where designers and design studios could actually meet with manufacturers and producers, to sell their already existing designs or to make deals for future product or package design for manufacturers.The Event welcomes you with a Lavazza Italian coffee, that means Italian designers could exhibit without having headache from caffeine drawbacks! After you take your coffee, you proceed to the exhibition hall where prominent design studios from all over the world, but mostly Indian showcase their skills and merits to the participants.One interesting aspect was the fact that while European designers were presenting their works with more aesthetics, Indians did indeed provided an advanced level of engineering to their product designs. Some Indian companies that showcased excellence were: studio abd, bang, icarus, tycka and many others. The aim of the Product Design Days was very clear; to connect manufacturers and producers, who are seeking product design to the design studios who would make the designs. PDD was a very unique event; because while all other events for design aimed publicity for participants, PDD indeed aimed at generating business for the participants.The audience of the event consisted of design enthusiasts, managers, and executive officers of companies. Most importantly, there were many design buyer companies who wished to commission design jobs to interested parties.Participation to the event was highly international, attracting audiences from all over the world. Design Studios who joined the event not only had chance to showcase their skills, but many of them indeed signed contracts or get highly qualifying business leads for commission based work.The fair also included several exhibitions where product designs were exhibited. One of such exhibitions was made by Yanko Design, which shared superior product design from all over the world. Among the exhibited designs, designs by Ziiro watches, Gavio, Art Lebedev, Nooka, Monocomplex, Inno Park was some that attract the most attention.The press was also present at the event, and participating designers were interviewed, thus also creating added value for the exhibitors. Famous Italian designers were present, showcasing their works.The event was highly vivid, and the event participants were highly attracted by the exhibitors stands. The most important element of the Product Design Days show was the fact that many business-people indeed came just to outsource design from talented design studios; thus creating job opportunities for the participants. OMC Design Studios was also one of the participants to the event, both as an observer, and exhibitor. The attendance to our booth was great, and there were several thousand visitors which gave us a hard time for talking and communication. Some exhibitions were great, among them these rings were my personal favorite as a fellow product designer for their simplicity, but there were so many other designs presented during the event.During the Product Design Days, there was also the ceremony of I Design Awards, where winners were given their package that included the award trophy, the yearbook and the certificate.On the evening of the first day, there was a networking dinner held, during this meeting, event participants had also the opportunity to meet and discuss with each other.Held in parallel with the Product Design Days tradeshow, there was also the conferences. The conferences featured especially talks from various spokespeople around the world, discussing and teaching the audience on issues such as design policies, intellectual property rights, branding and marketing designs etc.The conferences continued for two days and attracted hundreds of people daily. Each speech was followed by the crowd, who were eager to learn more from the presenters. The conferences added a further value to the event by attracting a highly qualified audience to the fair grounds.Right next to the conferences, there was the great exhibit where winners of the design awards were showcased. This exhibition of award winners were also visited by thousands of event visitors.The event also featured the A Design Award exhibition of 2011-2012 period winners. Thus A Design Award winners were showcased also in India, in addition to the exhibition in Italy. A Design Award also had a booth in the fair, and there were many companies who were interested in the works by A Design Award winnersOverall, the event was very vivid and full of business opportunities, we wish that the event shall continue and prosper in the upcoming years because it is a needed event for product designers; Product Design Days is the only design business event where design studios could find business opportunities.We should also mention that during the Product Design Days, the food was rather good, and slightly spicy; a fusion of world food with that of Indian was presented at lunch times, which worked as an ice-breaker between exhibitors, and presenting them not only to rest during this time, but also enjoy each others company while eating; and making friends as well.Exerpt:In Europe, we are used to designer shows where artists and designers join events to showcase their products and skills. One drawback, and the reality of such events is that while they indeed attract a lot of audience, apart from the press, most of such audience are people who come to copy products from exhibiting designers and manufacturers; i.e. freeriders of design.However, Product Design Days was a very very different event; it was not a place to show-off to audience or press with your artist..